EU deal 'brings fishermen benefits'

A compromise deal to shake up Europe's controversial fisheries policy has been hailed as bringing real benefits for British fishermen - if it wins approval from MEPs.

PUBLISHED: 10:08, Wed, May 15, 2013

The proposal is aimed at correcting decades of failed attempts to restore dwindling fish stocks [PA]

Marathon talks which started on Monday between EU fisheries ministers ended at dawn on Wednesday with agreement on plans to correct decades of failed attempts to restore dwindling fish stocks.

But the proposals do not include the proposed blanket ban on "discards" - the dumping of some fish back in the sea, dead, to avoid breaching restrictions on the size of landed catches. Instead the deal bans from 2015 only the dumping of pelagic fish - those living near the surface.

UK fisheries minister Richard Benyon said it had been a difficult negotiation and "not as ambitious as I would have liked", but he urged the European Parliament to approve it.

"The next step is for the European Parliament to agree these reforms, which are set to bring about real benefits for our fishermen and the marine environment for years to come. We have worked hard on these negotiations, and I hope that Parliament supports our agreement and brings negotiations to a swift conclusion. The wait is nearly over."

The problem of "discards" is a consequence of current Common Fisheries Policy rules on permitted catch quotas.

The issue galvanised wide UK support when Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall launched a Discards Campaign which has so far attracted nearly 860,000 signatures on a petition condemning the throwing away of perfectly edible fish to avoid breaching limits.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki - who once admitted the CFP was "broken" - says the discards system means almost one quarter of all fish caught in European waters are currently being dumped at sea.

The deal delays the start of the discards ban, as well as limiting it, but before the talks Ms Damanaki urged ministers and MEPs to compromise for the sake of a deal that would put drastically depleted fish stocks "on the road to recovery". But campaigners expressed concern that the deal delays a ban on discarding surplus deep-sea fish catches until the start of 2016.

Greenpeace EU Fisheries Policy Director Saskia Richartz said: "There is still a significant gap between the reluctant stance of some countries and the progressive position of the European Parliament. The Parliament will need to decide whether to continue negotiations on the basis of this take-it-or-leave it proposal from the Council (of fisheries ministers)."